Wilhelm Ketteler (Bishop)

Wilhelm Ketteler (* around 1512 at Assen in Lippborg ; † May 18, 1582 in Coesfeld ) was Prince-Bishop of Münster .

Life

Family, education and career advancement

Wilhelm Ketteler was born as the eldest son of Gotthardt II. Kettler zu Neu-Assen and his wife Sybilla Sophie von Nesselrode . His younger brother was Gotthard Kettler , the founder of the Kettler dynasty in Courland and Semigallia. He was the nephew of Paderborn Cathedral Provost Gisbert Ketteler .

In 1526, at the age of 14, he was already a canon in Münster. In 1539 he studied in Bologna , where he was registered as nobilis, canonicus Monasteriensis . In 1550 he was a councilor to the bishop of Munster and the duke of Jülich and Kleve, and in the same year he received power of attorney for the Reichstag in Augsburg as the prince-bishop's envoy. In 1552 he took the oath as cathedral provost (prelate), took over the Schonebeck house , and took the oath as cathedral provost on December 16 .

Prince-Bishop in Münster 1553–1557

On July 21, 1553, Wilhelm Ketteler was elected by the cathedral chapter as the new Prince-Bishop of Münster, received papal confirmation on November 29 and the imperial regalia on February 24, 1554 . His choice was welcomed by many, because he was not considered a supporter of the Reformation, but tried to stay true to Catholic thought. However, he was prepared to make concessions on individual issues.

So he took particular care of the women's monasteries in his diocese, some of which had gotten into disarray, but he was pragmatic. A monastic order could no longer be established because z. For example, if the nuns were hopelessly at odds with one another, Bishop Wilhelm ordered the conversion to a free worldly women's monastery, as in 1557 with the so-called White Monastery in Bocholt (Terziarinnen) and the Hohenholte Monastery . The “Black Monastery” in Bocholt, which had received its first “Preces Preliminaria” from Bishop Wilhelm in 1556, was probably converted into a similar monastery at that time.

Another conflict arose at the end of 1555 between Wilhelm Ketteler, Elekt von Münster, and the Duke of Jülich . It was about a new bridge built over the Lippe by Munster , which the Duke did not like. Duke Wilhelm V sent a letter of complaint to the electors of Munster and asked for the bridge to be removed. It is remarkable how Wilhelm Ketteler dealt with this letter. He did not answer it directly, but initially passed it on to the cathedral chapter and the city of Munster, with a suggested answer, and asked both for an expert opinion. Only when he had the agreement of the chapter and city and the prince-bishop had thus secured his back, did he write a letter to the duke rejecting his request.

The concessions to the Protestants and the results of the Council of Trent obviously brought him into conflict with the Pope , so that the canon Bernhard Morrien had to travel to Rome on behalf of the cathedral chapter in order to receive further confirmation from Wilhelm from the new Pope Paul IV Choice to achieve. It was not granted.

Withdrawal to Rheine and Coesfeld

On February 24, 1557, Wilhelm Ketteler resigned his office and dignity as Prince-Bishop and initially retired to Rheine , where he lived at the Falkenhof at the invitation of Wilhelm Morrien .

On September 30, 1558, his successor, Bishop Bernhard von Raesfeld, guaranteed him free living space, maintenance and, from 1559, 1,000 Reichstaler annually in return for the promise to continue serving the monastery after he renounced the office of bishop. Then Ketteler moved to Coesfeld and moved into the Schenking-Hof in Ritterstraße. He had a burial chapel built next to the sacristy of the nearby St. Jakobi Church, in which to worship throughout his life.

In 1563 he acquired a pension from Count Wilhelm II von Neuenahr for 3,000 Rhenish gold guilders from January 30, 1523, through which he received a further 135 gold guilders annually.

He also served as an advisor to Duke Wilhelm von Jülich and in his entourage took part in the Augsburg Diet in 1566 . In the "Kurtze un actual verzeychnus" published by Nikolaus Mameranus of all participants in this Reichstag, under the Jülich "furier label", the "Council Wilhelm Ketteler", who came to Augsburg with six horses, is listed first after the duke. "Next came Marshal Wilhelm vom Neuhoff called Ley (5 horses), whose daughter was married to Goswin Ketteler zur Middelburg from his second marriage".

At the end of 1573 or beginning of 1574, Bishop Johann von Hoya issued another certificate of appointment for Ketteler as the bishop's councilor of Munster. He was assured of comfortable accommodation in the Münster Abbey, as much firewood as necessary, services (ie staff) and wine delivery for housekeeping as much as necessary, as well as the necessary hay for the horses. Ketteler was to receive 1,000 thalers a year in cash, plus 44 ½ yards of English fabric, 60 yards of lining material and 35 yards of " parchum " ( bark , cotton fabric) for his clothing . His successor, Bernhard von Raesfeld, who was also resigned, received only 600 thalers a year and nothing else.

From his correspondence with his brother Gotthard , the Duke of Courland , two letters, dated March 2, 1576 and August 6, 1578, have survived. They only contain political news.

Wilhelm Ketteler found his burial place in the chapel of the St. Jakobi Church in Coesfeld that he had built. He left 80,000 talers to his former diocese.

In the church of St. Cornelius and Cyprian in Lippborg , his epitaph is now located between the popular altar and the high altar (hidden under the carpet).

Appreciations

Reinhard Lüdicke wrote about him: “The religious conflict in Germany also impaired the consolidation of the diocese as an independent territory. The successor of Franz von Waldeck , Wilhelm Ketteler, resigned after just four years, because he did not want to understand himself to take the oath prescribed by the Tridentine Council. Bernhard von Raesfeld , who was elected on the following day, was a follower of the old church, but not inclined to take coercive measures to restore ... "With the tridentischen oath should also be taken for the abolition of marriage-like priests relationships that already in 15th century were widespread and to a certain extent recognized even among non-aristocratic priests. Priests ordered z. B. Memories for yourself, your partner (often referred to as a "maid") and your children. Such relationships were practically impossible to resolve because the priest and concubine were mutually dependent, which also included their families and servants. “In addition to the above-mentioned motive, the lack of sovereign authority and the disruption of the finances of the monastery, which both made the position of a bishop of Munster a rather uncomfortable one, also spoke.

HA Erhard published several documents and letters in 1839, which provide information about the reasons why Prince-Bishop Wilhelm Ketteler resigned from his office, and also about how much the cathedral chapter regretted this. It seems that Lüdecke's opinion that Wilhelm Ketteler remained faithful to Catholic thought is more wishful thinking. Wilhelm Ketteler came from a house in which Reformed thinking was predominant. His contemporary Georg Cassander , who was in correspondence with Wilhelm, describes him as "half-Lutheran".

Individual evidence

1. ^ Reinhard Lüdicke: The sovereign central authorities in the diocese of Münster. Their origin and development up to 1650 , in: Westfälische Zeitschrift 59, 1901, pp. 1–169.
2. ^ Heinrich August Erhard: History of Munster , Munster 1837.

literature

• Woldemar Harleß :  Ketteler, Wilhelm von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, p. 127 f.
• Ludwig Frohne: Wilhelm von Ketteler's stay in Coesfeld , in: Coesfelder Allgemeine Zeitung, Coesfeld, April 1989.
• Hans Grusemann: The early history of the Ketteler family (Kettler) 12.-16. Century , ed. by Karl-Josef Freiherr von Ketteler, Münster 2004, pp. 250–253.
• Wilhelm Kohl: The dioceses of the church province Cologne. The diocese of Münster 7.3: The diocese. Berlin, 2003 ( Germania Sacra , New Series Vol. 37,3), pp. 574-579.

predecessor	Office	successor
Franz von Waldeck	Bishop of Munster 1553 - 1557	Bernhard von Raesfeld